How jointly owned property passes on death, the right of survivorship, how to sever a joint tenancy, IHT implications, and how to update the Land Registry.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Estate Assets guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 15 min.
Also searched as: tenants in common; tennants in common; tennants in common vs joint tenants.
Yes. Severing a joint tenancy is a unilateral act — you do not need the other owner's consent. You serve a written notice of severance on the other owner, then submit Form SEV to HM Land Registry to register a Form A restriction. There is no fee. Once the restriction is registered, neither owner can sell or mortgage the property without the other's consent, which protects both parties.
No. The type of beneficial ownership (joint tenants vs tenants in common) is separate from the legal title and the mortgage. Your mortgage remains unchanged. The lender does not need to be notified. What changes is what happens to your share of the equity if you die — it no longer passes automatically to your co-owner; it passes according to your will or the intestacy rules instead.
Your share passes under the intestacy rules, not to your co-owner automatically. If you are married or in a civil partnership, your spouse or civil partner inherits under intestacy (up to £322,000 outright, then half the remainder). If you are unmarried, your share passes to your children, or further up the family tree — your partner receives nothing. This is why tenants in common and a will must go together.
No. As joint tenants, the right of survivorship overrides your will. Whatever you write in your will about the property, your share passes automatically to the surviving co-owner on your death. To leave your share to your children, you must first sever the joint tenancy and become tenants in common, then update your will.
A Form A restriction is an entry on the Land Registry title register that prevents a sole surviving owner from selling or mortgaging the property without appointing a second trustee. It protects a tenants in common arrangement by ensuring that a buyer or lender cannot ignore the deceased's share. Without it, a surviving owner could theoretically sell the property and pocket the proceeds before the estate is administered.
You should have a declaration of trust (also called a trust deed) drawn up by a solicitor, which records the exact shares each owner holds. This document is the legal evidence of the split. For income tax purposes, if you are married or in a civil partnership and want to be taxed on your actual shares rather than 50/50, you must also submit Form 17 to HMRC within 60 days of the declaration of trust.
HM Land Registry charges no fee for registering a Form A restriction on a severance. However, if you use a solicitor to draft the notice of severance and submit the form on your behalf, you will pay their professional fees — typically £150–£300 for a straightforward severance. You can do it yourself using Form SEV, which is available free on the gov.uk website.
Neither type fully protects an unmarried partner on its own — you need both the right ownership structure and a will. Tenants in common gives you control over where your share goes, but without a will it passes under intestacy rules, which give your partner nothing. Joint tenants gives your partner the property automatically, but removes your ability to leave your share to anyone else. The most common approach for unmarried couples is tenants in common with mirror wills leaving each other the property.